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paced a little, and then circled back to stand in front of me again, peering at me intently, all the craziness dropping away. “Well, Kyra abra Dayna endor Durmaston, you are certainly more promising than these abject insects. At least you don’t crawl in the dirt. If I take you on, however, I will require your participation in the renewal ceremony next year. That means you will have to become my drusse. Think you could manage that?”
    My breath caught in my throat. The renewal ceremony! Everything the mages did was shrouded in secrecy, but everyone had heard of the renewal ceremony. It was some kind of communion with the magical energy infusing the world which the mages drew on for their powers, but the process was a mystery, fuelling any number of rumours – of sacrifices, blood-letting, animal wildness and exorcism of demon spirits. And sex. There was supposed to be a great deal of uninhibited sex. For that reason, all mages were required to be married or have a drusse.
    Yet to be taught by a mage! What a prize that would be! The mages were the very best, the stars of the scribery – well, the best of noble birth, anyway. I could never be a mage. But to have a mage patron would open doors to me, assure me the best opportunities when I was fully qualified. In my most optimistic dreams, I had never thought of such a possibility, for mages rarely took on pupils. Yet it was fitting. I had spoken proudly, perhaps arrogantly, when I described myself as the best, but it was not an exaggeration. And if I was the best trainee of my year, shouldn’t I have the best teacher?
    “Well?” he said, leaning closer. “I have other possibilities, you know.”
    “Terms?” I croaked.
    He straightened again. “Training – up to three years, as you please,” he barked. “If you’re capable of it, of course. I’ll be the judge of that. Drusse – one year only. I’ll be tired of you by then.”
    “Children?”
    He shuddered. “Absolutely not.”
    I didn’t have to think about it. I couldn’t miss such an opportunity, and being his drusse wouldn’t be so terrible. I disliked him intensely, but he was young and not so bad looking. It was only a year, after all.
    “I accept.”
    “Good. Follow me.”
    He swept through the door, coat flapping, and I marched out behind him without a backward glance.
    I thought with triumph that my future was assured.

7: Drusse
    My life was now changed beyond all recognition. After two years at the scribery, and just three suns after I’d added the second chain to my scribe’s necklace making me officially a transaction scribe, I became the mage’s drusse. I acquired a line of rings around one ear, and a surprising number of status marks tattooed on my upper arm.
    The mage was very off-handed about my drusse contract. He led me through town at a brisk pace, so that I almost had to run to keep up, to a well-appointed Scribing House I’d never seen before.
    “Drusse – one year – the usual,” was all he said to the scribe who served us. The scribe asked a couple of questions and then wrote industriously for some time, while the mage paced about the room. It was more like a private house than a place of business, so there were tables and shelves laden with ornaments, many of which he picked up, examined in a cursory fashion and then banged down again. Meanwhile, a minion fluttered along behind him, wringing her hands and retrieving abandoned objects from precarious positions, replacing each one carefully in its correct position.
    At length, the scribe was finished and handed over the contract without a word. The mage glanced over it, then handed it to me. I read it scrupulously but could find no fault with it. I hadn’t yet studied contract law officially, since it was third year work, but the standard types were available in the scribery library, and I had read them all. There was nothing out of the ordinary in this one.
    So we signed, and the scribe signed and added his seal, and then